October Legends and Americana Ending November 14th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015
Among an elite group of baseball’s greatest pitchers and one of the best from the game’s early modern era (post 1900), Mordecai “Three Finger “Brown’s 2.06 career ERA ranks sixth all time, and third among Hall of Famers. A member of the Chicago Cubs last World Series winning team of 1908, Brown racked up a streak of eight stupendous seasons from 1904-1911, winning more than 20 games six years in a row with earned run averages under 2.00 in six of those eight seasons, including a remarkable 1.04 in 1906, which still ranks second lowest all-time in the modern ERA. Brown accomplished all of these things despite losing portions of two fingers on his throwing hand from a farm machinery injury in his youth. Brown turned his handicap to his advantage using his unique grip to become a master of the curveball.
“That old paw served me pretty well in its time,” Brown stated to relatives Scott Brown and Cindy Thomson authors of “Three Finger: The Mordecai Brown Story,” continuing to explain, “It gave me a firmer grip on the ball so I could spin over the hump. It gave me a greater dip.”
Is addition to his throwing motion Brown’s signature was also unique, Beginning with a big capital “M” he would connect the “o” and “r” together as almost one letter and then write the next three separately “d” “e” “c” and connect the last two “a” and “I” letters of his first name. Brown would sign his last name in regular cursive fashion. Brown’s signature is also extremely rare, especially on a baseball like the one offered here, with most occurring on flats and cuts. A 1930’s single-signed Brown ball fetched $52,580 at auction in February 2015.
This Monarch Sporting Goods Semi-Pro League ball with green and red stitching is signed by Brown in black steel tip fountain pen on its sweet spot (“8”) and contains two other signatures deemed unidentifiable by PSA/DNA Authentication Services. Upon closer inspection signatures appear to be those of Cubs outfielders Jack McCarthy and Jimmy Slagle. McCarthy was only with the Cubs during the 1904 and 1905 season, the only years that all three could have been teammates. The ball remains in good condition with only light gray toning and all manufacturers labeling legible and comes with PSA/DNA LOA certification #Y06356.